Toronto Raptors: Skip the Trip to Apartheid Israel

Prior to winning the 2019 NBA title, Raptor's billionaire co-owner Larry Tanenbaum told the team if they won he would take them on a trip to Israel. Traveling to Israel on such a trip would help cover up (sports-wash) Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people. Sign our letter to the Raptors’ players asking them to heed the Palestinian call for boycott — including a sports and cultural boycott — and reject the trip.

Dear Raptors players,

As sports fans and human rights supporters, we appeal to you to decline to travel to Israel as part of a propaganda trip that would serve to cover up (sports-wash) the daily nightmares of siege, occupation, and apartheid that Palestinians live under.

Since 1967, Israel has been holding Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza under military occupation and in a system of apartheid. Palestinians are subject to a web of checkpoints, they endure home demolitions, land confiscations, closed military zones, and a separate and unequal system of military laws and courts. Palestinians are subjected to inadequate access to water and other resources, separate roads and walkways, and a separation wall that snakes throughout the West Bank, preventing Palestinians from accessing their crops. Under military law it is illegal for Palestinians to participate in protest of their circumstances and military courts have an over 99% conviction rate. Children as young as 12 are detained, abuses, and tried in the only juvenile military court in the world.

In Gaza, Palestinians live under a crippling siege, often referred to as the largest open-air prison on earth. 97% of the water in Gaza is unfit for consumption. Medical supplies and sufficient food cannot get in. Unemployment is 52% (70% for youth) and the densely populated strip is often bombed. The United Nations says that since March 2018, Israel has likely been committing war crimes by shooting Palestinian citizens, children, journalists, medics, and the disabled.

Inside Israel, Palestinian citizens face discrimination in housing, resources, and more. In 2005 Palestinian civil society put out a call for boycott — including academic, cultural and sports — and divestment from Israel until such a time as Israel ends its occupation and colonization of the West Bank and its siege of Gaza, dismantles the Apartheid system of racial discrimination and segregation for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and recognizes the Right of Return of over 5 million Palestinian refugees in accordance with UN resolution 194.

Around the world, poor and oppressed people embrace basketball as a sport of the people, and basketball players — many of whom come from poor and struggling backgrounds — have an important history of taking progressive positions and giving back to their communities, including NBA players showing up on the side of social and racial justice. Rather than participating in a propaganda trip that will help Israel continue its policies of racism and oppression, we encourage you to travel to the West Bank and meet with Palestinians living under occupation. CODEPINK is happy to provide you with contacts and resources to do this.

As NBA Champions, you have the opportunity to use your success and influence to help end Isreal’s abuses of Palestinian human rights. Please support the Palestinian struggle for freedom and liberation by not traveling to Israel as part of a propaganda trip.

Sincerely,

Who's signing

S. Perry

Carole Shelton

kim petersen

Wendy Thompson

Jane Varalli

Bill Clark

fat mudz

Carol Dudek

Emily Rodrique

John Alessi

John St. Peter

Ruth Gollobin

Morgan OConnor

Marianne Yusavage

Jack Murphy

Marilyn Flower

Jessica Wardlaw

Dr Susan Caswell

Sherrill Futrell

bernardo alayza mujica

Frances Dunham

Anam Matariyeh

Chris Theodor

Lutz Barz

Paul Grohman

Susan Wright

Michael Tamarack

Andrew Shapiro

Giuliano Albertini

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S. Perry signed
2019-07-16 15:55:00 -0400

Carole Shelton signed
2019-07-16 11:55:17 -0400

kim petersen signed
2019-07-14 13:02:32 -0400

all racism is abhorrent whether against blacks, arabs, jews, etc

Wendy Thompson signed
2019-07-13 22:14:00 -0400

Jane Varalli signed
2019-07-13 18:49:39 -0400

I watched your team beat mine. I loved the teamwork and extraordinary skills, a great coach. Israel has interfered with us elections their netanyahu thanked trump for his election and vice versa. It would be a powerful statement if you did not go to Israel. They murder on a daily basis.

Bill Clark signed
2019-07-13 13:30:21 -0400

Dear Raptors: If you do your homework and look into the realities of Israeli apartheid policies towards Palestinians you may decide not to participate in a vacation there. Please don’t debate yourself and your championship victory by going on a politically motivated trip that exploits your elite athleticism for the sake of Israeli propaganda. I don’t think you would have gone on a celebratory trip to South Africa when it was still under apartheid rule — and going to Israel now would be the same or even worse.

fat mudz signed
2019-07-13 11:13:38 -0400

Carol Dudek signed
2019-07-12 15:32:12 -0400

Emily Rodrique signed
2019-07-12 13:02:23 -0400

John Alessi signed
2019-07-11 18:35:25 -0400

John St. Peter signed
2019-07-11 13:39:08 -0400

Ruth Gollobin signed
2019-07-11 12:03:29 -0400

Morgan OConnor signed
2019-07-10 15:34:46 -0400

Marianne Yusavage signed
2019-07-10 14:09:43 -0400

Jack Murphy signed
via Ted Schmidt2019-07-10 11:23:23 -0400

Marilyn Flower signed
2019-07-09 22:23:49 -0400

Jessica Wardlaw signed
2019-07-09 21:19:30 -0400

Dr Susan Caswell signed
2019-07-09 01:42:29 -0400

NO ONE, EVENWITH A SMALLETHICALCORE, WOULDEVERJUSTIFIED, PARTICIPATE, ENCOURAGE A RACIST, VIOLENT, CHILDRENABUSINGAPARTEIDLIKELANDSTEALING, BABYBURNING/MURDERINGGOVT OF ISRAEL—50 YEARS OF OPPRESSIONANDSUFFERING IS TOOMUCH